


Episode Analysis: "The Way Back" (meta)

by Natasha



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 23:25:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11885061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natasha/pseuds/Natasha
Summary: This is not an analysis of the entire episode, instead it just focuses on Bran Foster's observation about Blake: "There's not much left of the man I knew." My contention is that throughout TWB, there are scenes which prove exactly the opposite: that there is, indeed, very much left of the man Foster knew.





	Episode Analysis: "The Way Back" (meta)

Recently I’ve re-watched ‘The Way Back’, and I thought I’d devote a few paragraphs to Bran Foster’s observation about Blake: ‘There’s not much left of the man I knew’. At this point Foster believes that by brainwashing Blake, erasing his memories and implanting new ideas, the Federation has practically managed to crush his spirit and change him thoroughly as a person.

However, Foster doesn’t appear to be a very good judge of characters. He’s certainly failed big time in his assessment of Dev Tarrant, whom he considers an old and trusted friend, not realizing that Tarrant is an undercover Federation agent who has been spying on rebels for years and was probably responsible for Blake’s initial arrest as well. When it comes to Blake, we as viewers have the advantage of knowing Blake as a rebel leader in the episodes which follow _after_ TWB, and they give us a hint at what Blake must have been like as a rebel leader _before_ TWB, too. To me it seems that there is a continuity here which was never interrupted at all; that when it comes to some of Blake’s essential character traits, the Federation didn’t come anywhere near to damaging them, or obliterating the core of Blake’s being. Throughout TWB, actually, there are scenes which prove exactly the opposite of what Foster claims – that there is, indeed, _very much_ left of ‘the man he knew’:

 

1.

‘Let’s get on with it.’ When Blake realizes that Richie and Ravella are taking him outside the dome, he reminds them that going outside is a ‘Category Four crime’. However, it takes only a moment for him to decide to follow them anyway, and promise to keep silent about everything he sees. Here is a recognizable trait of Blake’s character: unlike most of us, he is not afraid of acting against societal rules and laws, and risking legal consequences, or worse, if he has a worthwhile reason.

2.

‘What happened to the others?’ This is also recognizably Blakean. Blake doesn’t dwell long on what Bran Foster has told him about his own past (his arrest and consequent mistreatment in the hands of the Federation). His focus immediately shifts to the members of his rebel cell and _their_ fate, which seems to be more important to him than his own. Later on, while talking to Tel Varon, Blake again disregards his own well-being and gives priority to exposing the crime he has witnessed. He says: ‘I just want to make a statement in open court. I want those responsible for massacre brought to trial. There can be no justification for deliberate murder.’ Even when he finds out that he has been accused of child abuse, it is still more important for him to provide justice for the victims of the massacre than to clear his own name from hideous charges. This kind of selfless behaviour is consistent in Blake’s character throughout the series, and apparently, hasn’t been altered at all by the Federation’s brainwashing treatment.

3.

The entire dynamic of Blake – Tel Varon relationship. Another constant trait of Blake’s character which the Federation obviously never damaged is his great capacity to cause moral awakening of the individuals he gets in touch with, appeal to their sense of justice and compel them to act in accordance with it. In a few short scenes, Blake manages to convert Tel Varon from a quiet, naïve and law-abiding Federation citizen into a veritable rebel fighting to expose the corruption of his government. It's also interesting to point out that either before or after Varon’s ‘conversion’, Blake is never judgmental and forgives the other man’s incredulity in a heartbeat. When Varon says, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t believe you’, Blake doesn’t reply at all. We get the impression that he holds no grudge – and apparently, that he never did.

 

 


End file.
